An Elegant Portrait
by Crowquill Symphony
Summary: Siegbert must paint, and Forrest must stay glamourous. Shiro is there too. A simple one-shot about art, gowns, and boys.


It wasn't uncommon for Forrest to model in front of the mirror; he was confident in his body and proud of how it looked in flowing fabrics and shining silks. He was comfortable in his own skin, and so he'd freely admit to indulging his vanity and admiring himself in the mirror. That did not mean he was nearly as comfortable modelling for his cousin; lying in his silks and lace, sprawled across a Davenport, his beret clutched to his chest, he felt more self-conscious than he'd ever felt as Siegbert sketched his form, committing it to parchment as Forrest fought the urge to move.

Granted, this wasn't the first time Forrest had been drawn; more than once he'd posed for Shigeru's paintings, and on a few occasions, he'd noticed Siegbert drawing him from a distance and had offered to pose for his cousin. No, the uncertainty had come from the pose, and from his outfit. Both had, for whatever reason, been insisted on by his cousin, though there had been a bashfulness in the request. Forrest had dressed himself as requested, in an outfit more befitting a woman of pleasure than a Nohrian prince, and the request for it left both parties pointedly avoiding the others eyes.

Still, curiosity took hold as time passed and eventually Forrest spoke. "So… why this dress?"

There was a pause, a steady wait until Siegbert spoke up. "It was actually… I had not intended to ask you to model for me today, but…" he paused, breathing to collect his breath. Forrest waited for him to continue, waiting for whatever epiphany would come. "I was approached by Shiro recently."

Forrest cocked an eyebrow. "Shiro? What does he have to do with this?"

"He had something he wished to show me." Siegbert's tone remained fairly level, but there was a slight tremble near the end of his statement.

"Something improper, perhaps?" Forrest asked, and he could see Siegbert twitch behind his canvas. The younger prince rolled his eyes; for all that he respected Shiro's strength and focus, he couldn't help but wish he would behave as befit his status… on _some_ occasion at least.

"Indeed. A full scroll of such material. Women, painted in such… it was…" Siegbert shook his head, setting down his brushes to bury his eyes in his palm. "It was simply too much! He showed this to me and said, 'look at this Siggy, this is what a woman looks like!' with this big grin on his face!"

Forrest gasped; he knew Shiro tended to be a bit wild, especially in contrast to Siegbert, but to simply whip out lewd paintings at his dear cousin? Forrest could barely imagine the shock. "What did you tell him?"

Siegbert sighed. "In truth, that's… sort of what brought us here."

"What?"

The blush had returned to Siegbert's face. "I was panicking, struggling to keep composed. For whatever reason you crossed my mind and… and I said you were twice as beautiful as any of those women."

Silence. Forrest could tell Siegbert was waiting for some admonishment, or some flustered response.

Forrest couldn't manage either as he began to laugh, growing even wilder in his merriment as he rolled off the couch and hit the floor with a thud. Siegbert helped him up and the two of them sat there, Forrest still giggling and Siegbert sitting uncomfortably at his side.

"Did… did he ask you to prove it, dear cousin? Is that what this whole endeavor was about?"

"I had been panicked when I said it, and then I panicked again when he said I was being ridiculous. He told me, 'paint me a portrait of your brother that's more beautiful than these women then, I bet even with your skills such a task would be impossible.'"

That stopped Forrest's laughing. "Wait, he said they'd look more beautiful than me?"

Siegbert paused, eyes suddenly wide as he realized the demon he'd awoken. "Forrest…"

It was too late. Forrest pulled Siegbert from the couch and dragged him back to his canvas. "More beautiful? Such filth? Hah! We'll show him; come Siegbert, we shall show that… that uncultured swine what beauty looks like! Prepare a new canvas, I need to change… He'll see, oh-ho-ho, he'll see!"

Siegbert kept as still as he could while he prepared a new canvas; there was a fire in Forrest, and the crown prince would be damned if he tried to oppose it.

"Siggy! Good to see you, my friend." Shiro clapped Siegbert across the back as the other man approached, a canvas tucked under his arm. "Whatcha got there, huh?"

Siegbert was flushed, and unusually quiet, even by the uptight young man's usual standards. "Do you recall," he began, blatantly avoiding looking Shiro directly in the eyes. "Our meeting last weekend? When you showed me that lascivious scroll of yours?"

Shiro laughed. "Yeah, I remember that!" Good times, he thought to himself. "What about it?"

Siegbert seemed to be running through something in his mind. Shiro watched for a moment before his eyes trailed down to the canvas. He wasn't quite sure what was on it; after a moment, however, Siegbert thrust the painting into Shiro's hands, leaving the Hoshidan to look at it.

What he saw was a striking Nohrian beauty, something that seemed cut out of one of their fairy tales. Blonde hair in carefully curled ringlets with soft bangs caressing her face, a slender body in a sleek silken dress that seemed to follow her curves perfectly. The slit in her dress revealed one of her legs, long, pale and unblemished by any sort of markings, at least not beneath the dark stockings she wore. Her gloved hands clutched a pink beret to her slight bosom as she seemed to stare longingly out from the painting and into his eyes. His heart throbbed; with the women in the filthy scrolls there was an obvious attraction, simple and lustful, but with this image there was something else, something about her that drew him in and told him, "I love you, I want you, I need you to be mine, and I need to be yours."

He looked it over once more, though this time his eyes caught on her chest, and the pink beret she clung to. Especially that beret. That familiar looking beret.

Pink beret.

Realization came slowly. Shiro handed the painting back to Siegbert and sat down nearby in the shadow of a tree. He took a deep breath, then let it go before gazing up at the skies above him. Truly he needed time to think.

Forrest watched his cousin's face carefully, trying to find any evidence that this situation was a joke. Siegbert sat with his head in his hands, his disbelief having left him contemplating his life as the prince of Nohr. After a moment, Forrest finally spoke up.

"So." He said softly, "I guess I have a date?"

Siegbert peaked out over his hands at the bouquets of flowers and bolts of fine Hoshidan silks that had filled Forrest's room, as well as the shockingly elegantly written card that Forrest held. He dropped his face back into his hands.

"I suppose so."


End file.
